Our Identity Values

There are three identity values that drive Lumen Foundation churches.  We believe the church’s identity is “a Gospel Community on Mission.”

Gospel

The Gospel Word is what creates the church, rules the church, grows the church, and sends the church.  The church’s identity and practices are defined by the Gospel Word.

Community

The Gospel Word creates a community.  The church is not a building, an event, or a club; it is a community.  The Gospel Word is about God gathering a community of people to be His people.  It is only in community that the church can be the church and accomplish its God-given mission.

Mission

The Gospel Word creates a community that has a mission.  The ultimate mission of the church is to bring glory to God through worshiping Him.  The primary way the church achieves this mission in the world today is through bringing more people to worship God through the transforming power of the Gospel Word lived out and spoken in the context of the Gospel Community.

Our Visible Practices

If the identity of the church is a “gospel community on mission”, what does that look like in practice?  Here are a few key visible practices that Lumen Foundation churches have in common:

Gospel-Centered Life

Because we believe the Word of God is primarily the story of the Gospel…not a book of rules, hero-stories, or moral lessons…we make the simple and yet incredibly rich message of the Gospel the center of all that we do.  It is the focus of our preaching, the motivation for life, the impetus for change, the power for transformation, the foundation for marriage, the most powerful tool for counseling, and much more.  We desire to be a people that never move past the powerful story of the Gospel, but instead grow to love it more deeply and be shaped by it daily.

Because of this, we talk about the Gospel a lot…everything is in light of the Gospel.

Missional Communities

Because we believe that the Gospel Word brings us into community, we seek to structure church in a way that everyone is connected to a small community of people living life together on mission.  These communities are shepherded by pastor/elders so that everyone in the church is under the care of an elder.  We believe that these communities are crucial for real discipleship and equipping the saints for the work of ministry.  We believe that these missional communities are the best apologetic for the Gospel as they live the Gospel out together.  Therefore, these missional communities living life intentionally in their physical communities will be the best way to reach those who do not trust the Gospel.

Because of this, we want everyone to be living life with a missional community and for these communities to own their mission field.

Expository Preaching

Because the Gospel Word creates, rules, grows, and sends the church; we believe that the faithful and careful proclamation of God’s Word is necessary for the church to be the church God intended it to be.  As we preach the whole counsel of God’s Word and respond by not only hearing, but also doing, the church will be the church God calls it to be.

Because of this, a core part of Sunday gatherings is the clear proclamation of God’s Word and application to the community.

Vibrant Biblical Theology

Because the Gospel Word rules, sustains, and directs the church; we believe it is crucial to understand the Gospel Word and the God who inspired it.  Practice and life always flows out of theology…so we want to make sure we truly understand God as He reveals Himself and His mission in His Word.  Although we love our brothers and sisters with different theological understandings of Scripture, we hold firmly to and take joy in God’s sovereignty over all things…including our salvation.  Rather than hindering evangelism efforts, this actually motivates us to bring God’s transforming Gospel Word to the world around us…knowing that it is the chosen means God uses to change hard hearts.

Because of this, our preaching and evangelism will always emphasize the grace of our sovereign God.

Biblical Eldership

Because the Gospel Word rules the church, we must allow the Gospel Word to tell us how the local church should be led and shepherded.  We believe that God’s Word clearly commands that a community of called and qualified men, a group of elders/pastors, should shepherd and lead each local church.  There is not one man that has the gifting or understanding to lead the church by himself.

Because of this, we believe each local church should be led and shepherded by a group of called and qualified men…a plurality of elders.

Multiplying Churches

Because the Gospel makes the church a community with a mission, we want every church to take that mission very seriously.  We believe one of the best ways to take accomplish that mission is through planting new churches.  New church plants are effective in reaching the unreached and they keep the sending church focused on mission.  Therefore, they are crucial for both the health of existing churches and for the sake of the Gospel mission in that city.

Because of this, we believe every church should participate in strategic church planting.

Culturally-Sensitive Forms

Because we want to be effective in achieving our mission, we wish to become “all things to all people.”  This means that each church must study the culture it is engaging and allow ministries and styles to form in relationship to the culture.  Culture, however, is not the driving force.  A commitment to honor our King in all things is what drives us. While this commitment allows us to adjust style and forms to meet culture, it will also mean being counter-cultural because the Gospel is counter-cultural.

Because of this, each church will look both similar and different…similar because of a common identity and a common Gospel, different because of a different culture.

Care for the City

Because the Gospel Word is about a King who wants to fix this broken world, we desire to honor our king by caring for the broken parts of our city.  We know that the true “fix” can only come from our King, Jesus, coming one day to make things right.  However, because we love what He loves, we continue to seek for this broken world to be fixed…even knowing that only He can fix it.  This care for the city in physical ways does not replace the mission of total life transformation through the Gospel…instead it flows out of it.  As we seek to see hearts changed and lives transformed through the Gospel, we also seek to care for people’s physical needs.  The Gospel is not concerned only with people’s hearts, but their whole lives.

Because of this, each church should be actively involved in meeting the real and tangible needs of its surrounding community.